Electric massage pad



Dec. 18, 1962 J. F. SUAREZ ELECTRIC MASSAGE PAD 2 Sheets-Shee t 1 FiledSept. 29, 1959 NVENTOR. uZco Suarez BY I ATTORNEYS Dec. 18, 1962 J. F.SUAREZ 3,063,358

ELECTRIC MASSAGE PAD Filed Sept. 29, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.g/QZL'O j. 7 uar'ez ATTORMEYS llnired The present invention relates to arelatively stiff fiat pad which is caused to vibrate to produce amassage effeet on the portion of an individual in contact therewith.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electric massage padthat is of simple construction and composed of relatively few parts thatenable it to be economical to fabricate and yet durable in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electricmassage pad which achieves the above objects by employing areciprocating electric motor that is effectively and efficientlyinterconnected in the pad to produce vibrations lengthwise of the pad.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an electricmassage pad in which the vibration producing electric motor is housedand connected to the rest of the pad structure in a manner that providesease in fabrication and assembly and, when necessary, disassembly forrepair.

in carrying out the above objects, the present invention provides anelectric massage pad that has an electric motor housing portionenclosing the electric motor that is connected to a vibrating padportion to form the complete pad. in use, the electric motor, whenintermittently energized, produces vibrations that are transmitted tothe pad portion, the pad portion normally being in contact with anindividual to produce the desired massage effect. The pad portion isrelatively stiff, though sufficiently flexible to substantially conformto the shape of the users body in contact therewith and is composed of aplurality of aligned, spaced, coplanar bars with transverse barsconnected thereto to form a fiat lattice, the lattice being covered onboth sides by sheets of resilient material, such as foam plastic, and awear-resistant covering, such as sheet plastic, encloses the resilientsheets and lattice.

The motor housing portion is simply and efficiently formed by bending apiece of sheet metal into an elongate tubular portion and havingintegral tabs formed on the sheet metal that provide a connection to thepad portion. The reciprocating electric motor is secured directly to thehousing and hence its vibrations are transmitted to this single sheet ofmetal and thence to the pad portion.

if desired, and as shown in the hereinafter disclosed embodiment of thepresent invention, an electric heating element is positioned on one sideof the pad portion to provide heat, either separately or simultaneouslywith the vibrations.

thcr features and advantages will hereinafter appear. in the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan of the electric massage pad of the present inventionwith portions thereof removed to show underlying structure.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, also having portions removed to showunderlying structure.

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FlG. 4 is a detail taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view of the motor housing shown partly in section and withportions of the housing removed.

FIG. 6 is an end view of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawing, the electric massage pad of the presentinvention is generally indicated by the ret erence numeral 10 andincludes a motor housing portion 11 and a pad portion 12. The motorhousing portion ts haent I comprises a housing 13 formed of sheet metalthat is bent into the cross-sectional shape (shown in FIG. 6) to form anelongate tube with end caps 14 and 15 being secured on the ends of thetube, as by screws 16, to form the closed motor housing.

A reciprocating electric motor 17 is located in the housing and has acoil 18 and a paramagnetic core 19 secured on an end portion of aflexible link 20 formed from strips of resilient metal. The motor frame21 is substantially U-shaped having a long leg 22 and a short leg 23with one end portion of the link 26 being secured to the short leg, asby rivets 24, while the core and coil are secured to the other endportion of the link 20 as by rivets 25. The frame 21 in cross-sectionhas side flanges 26 which have formed therein threaded apertures 27.Screws 28 pass through apertures 29 formed in the sides of the housingto thread into the holes 27 to secure the frame of the motor directly tothe housing. It is preferable to provide indents fail in the housingadjacent the apertures 29 to recess the heads of the screws 28.

The end cap 15 is provided with apertures in which insulating bushings31 are positioned to form a passage for electric cords 32 and 33, thecord 32 being connected to an on-off switch, while the cord 33 isconnected to a source of alternating current. To provide intermittentoperation of the coil, a one-way valve or rectifier 34 is connectedbetween the source of electrical energy and the coil. Enclosing theperiphery of the housing of the motor is a sheet 55 of resilientmaterial such as foam plastic while covering the sheet 35 is a cover 36formed of wearresistant plastic. The cover has a zipper 37 that closesthe cover yet enables the positioning of taking it ofi the metal tubeand resilient material.

In carrying out the present invention, in order to economically andeffectively secure the housing portion of the pad to the pad portion, sothat vibrations produced by the motor may be efliciently transmitted toand throughout the latter, the present invention provides for three tabs33 which are formed integrally with the sheet metal 23 at each of itsabutting ends and thus a tab 38 has two identical portions 38a and 38beach with an aperture 39 extending therethrough. As shown, portions ofthe resilient padding material 35 are located adjacent the tabs with aportion of the tab extending beyond and adapted to project through slits49 formed in the cover 36..

The pad portion 12 of the pad of the present invention is relativelystill by reason of it being composed of spaced, aligned coaxial metallicbars 41, five being shown in the specific embodiment of the inventionherein disclosed, with crossbars 42 at the upper and lower ends of thebars ll that are secured thereto at their abutting surfaces by spotwelds 43. It will be appreciated that the bars .1 and 42 form a latticewhich is relatively stiif. Positioned on each side of the lattice aresheets 44 and 45 of resilient foam material, such as foam plastic, withthe sheets being larger than the lattice to provide resiliency not onlyon the flat sides but also along the edges. Located on the top of thesheet 44 is a heating pad 46 which is of wellknown and conventionalconstruction because it has been found desirable to provide both aheating and massage effect simultaneously or individually. A cover 47formed of wear-resistant plastic encloses the lattice, the sheets 44 and45 and the heating pad 46 and the cover has a zipper 47a which enablesthe positioning in and the taking all of the cover, the zipper extendingalong the bottom edge 48 and partially along the sides 49 and 50.

To enable the vibrations produced by the reciprocating motor to betransmitted throughout the length of the pad portion 12, the threemiddle bars 41a, 41b and 410 have end portions which project beyondthese connections to the upper crossbar 42. Each of these end portionsis formed with an aperture 51 through which a nut and bolt 52 passes tosecure the bars to the tabs 38 ofthe motor housing. It will beappreciated that the nut and bolt 52 not only secures the bars to thetabs but also secures the tab portions 38a and 38b together to preventopening of the housing.

According to the present invention the connection, i.e. 52, between thehousing portion and the pad portion is normally hidden from view and yetis readily accessible. This is efiected by the exposed end portions ofthe tabs 38 passing through slots formed in the covering 46 so that theconnection, i.e. nut and bolt 52, is contained within the covering 46.If accessibility to the connection is desired, it will be appreciatedthat by compressing the resilient sheet portions of the sheet 35adjacent the tabs inwardly and compressing the portions of the sheets 44and 45 adjacent the end portions of the bars 41a, 41b and 410 inwardlythat the connection will be easily accessible without removal of eithercover. This structure facilitates not only the fabrication of theelectric massage pad of the present invention but also repairs if suchare found necessary.

In the electric massage pad of the present invention, it will beappreciated that passage of alternating current through the one-wayvalve 34 will cause intermittent energization of the coil and by reasonof its magnetic attraction to the adjacent portion of the long leg 22 ofthe frame, it will move toward that portion flexing the link 2%. Upondeenergization, the flexed link will cause the coil and core to move inthe other direction. This reciprocating movement causes a vibration tobe produced in the motor frame and transmitted, by means of the screws28, directly to the metal housing, the metal housing having integraltherewith the tabs 38 and which by reason of their connection to thebars 41a, 41b and 41c effectively and efficiently transmit the vibrationof the motor frame throughout the length of the lattice and hence thearea of the pad portion 12. It will further be appreciated that the coiland core move in an arc in a' plane which is substantially coplanar withand parallel to the direction of the bars 41 and that there is nocomponent of vibration which is perpendicular to the plane of thelattice or the pad portion 12. Moreover, the pad portion 12 by havingits lattice formed of five aligned bars 41 and only two transverse bars42 is stiff in the direction of vibration yet relatively. flexibletransversely in the same plane.

For a more detailed description of the reciprocating electric motor ofthe present invention and the controls therefor, reference is had to mycopending application, Serial No. 753,290 filed August 5, 1958, nowabandoned and entitled Vibratory Therapeutic Device.

It will accordingly be appreciated that there has been disclosed anelectric massage pad which employs a reciprocating electric motor toproduce the vibrations and hence when the pad is in contact with anindividual, a massage. The reciprocating electric motor is efficientlyyet economically connected to the pad portion of the pad of the presentinvention by means of the protective housing which closes the motor bythe housing having formed integrally therewith, tabs that are connectedto the stifiening bars of the pad portion and thus vibrations producedby the motor are transferred throughout the whole area of the pad. Thesevibrations, moreover, by reason of the employment of the reciprocatingmotor and the manner of its interconnection to its housing and the padportion cause vibrations in the pad which are solely in the plane of thepad portion and extended lengthwise of the pad portion.

Variations and modifications may be made within the 4 scope of theclaims and portions of the improvement may be used without others.

I claim: a 1. An electric massage pad comprising a frame, areciprocating electric motor having a coil and a core mounted forreciprocating planar movement on said frame,

, an elongate tubular housing enclosing the motor and having outwardlyextending tabs integral therewith, means securing the frame rigidly tothe housing, said housing being formed from a piece of sheet metal withthe tabs being formed thereon atthe abutting ends of the piece, a padportion comprising a plurality of spaced, aligned, coplanar bars and aplurality of crossbars extending transversely of the bars and connectedthereto to form a lattice, resilient means positioned on each side ofthe lattice and enclosing the housing, a cover over the pad portion anda cover over the housing, and means connecting'the tabs to at least oneof the bars.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which there is a tab portionat each abutting end of the piece with the tab portions being alignedand forming a tab, and means securing the tabs to the bars also securesthe tab portions together.

3. An electric massage pad comprising a reciprocating electric motorhaving a U-shaped frame including a short.

leg and a long leg, an elongate flexible link having one end portionsecured to the short leg, a coil with a. core secured to the other endportion of the link and positioned adjacent the long leg, an elongatetubular housing enclosing the motor and having outwardly extending tabsintegral therewith, means rigidly connecting the long leg to thehousing, a pad portion comprising a plurality of a spaced, aligned,coplanar bars and a plurality of crossbars extending transversely of thebars and connected thereto to form a lattice, resilient means positionedon each side of the lattice and enclosing the housing, a cover over thepad portion and a coverover the housing, and means connecting the tabsto at least one of the bars.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 in which the means that connectsthe long leg of the motor frame to the housing consists of screws thatpass through apertures in the housing to thread into the long leg.

5. The invention as defined in claim Sin which the flexible link extendstransversely to the direction of the bars.

6. An electric massage pad comprising a frame, a reciprocating electricmotor having a coil and a core mounted for reciprocating planar motionon said frame,

an elongate tubular housing enclosing the motor and havv ing outwardlyextending tabs integral therewith, means securing the frame rigidly tothe housing, a pad portion comprising a plurality of spaced, aligned,coplanar bars and a plurality of crossbars extending transversely of thebars and connected thereto to form a lattice, resilient means positionedon each side of the lattice and enclosing the housing, a cover over thepad portion and a cover over the housing, and means connecting the tabsto at least one of the bars, the resilient means having portionsadjacent the tabs with the outer portion of the tabs projectingtherebeyond, the outer portion of the tabs normally extending throughthe cover for the pad portion and being covered by the resilient meanspositioned on each side of the bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,512,621 Emerson June 27, 1950 2,840,071 McNair June 24, 1958 2,850,009McElwee Sept. 2, 1958 2,852,020 Murphy Sept. 16, 1958 2,852,021 JessupSept. 16, 1958

